Matthew B Paddock

NASA · Ames Research Center

Oxidation ponds are the most widely-used means of treating wastewater in the United States. Supplying oxygen to bacteria to break down organic material in wastewater requires vast amounts of energy and generates 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year. Photosynthetic algae can generate dissolved oxygen at levels in excess of 200% of sa...

Wastewater treatment is becoming increasingly important as communities strive to maintain a higher standard of living. Current wastewater treatment facilities use approximately 50% of their total energy for aeration to promote the growth of heterotrophic microorganisms needed for the degradation process. In turn, this release nearly 20 million equi...

Wastewater treatment is an energy‐intensive process and a net emitter of greenhouse gas emissions. A large fraction of these emissions is due to intensive aeration of aerobic bacteria to facilitate break‐down of organic compounds. Algae can generate dissolved oxygen at levels in excess of saturation, and therefore hold the potential to partially di...

The use of microalgae for combined wastewater treatment and biofuel production has shown promise as a viable method for reducing oleaginous biomass production costs. Little work has been done to characterize the complex interactions that exist between microalgae, wastewater, and bacteria contained in these environments. This thesis focuses on three...

The use of microalgae for wastewater treatment has been proposed as a cost-effective method to produce biofuels while remediating waste streams. This study examined the microalgae biomass production rate, wastewater treatment efficiency, and prokaryotic organism microbiome associated with microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana cultivated on anaerobic dig...

Space-based biomanufacturing has the potential to improve the sustainability of deep space exploration. To advance biomanufacturing, bioprocessing systems need to be developed for space applications. Here, commercial technologies were assessed to design space bioprocessing systems to supply a liquid amine carbon dioxide scrubber with active carboni...

Space-based biomanufacturing has the potential to improve the sustainability of deep space exploration. To advance biomanufacturing, bioprocessing systems need to be developed for space applications. Here, commercial technologies were assessed to design space bioprocessing systems to supply a liquid amine carbon dioxide scrubber with active carboni...

In this whitepaper, we call for the concept of biomanufacturing to be expanded and widely adopted as a support function of human Space-travel. To demonstrate the impact and value of this strategy, we identify the specific offworld scenarios where the concept is most applicable, as well as the vital inventories that can be made available thereby. Th...

Microalgae wastewater treatment has long been promoted as a sustainable method to handle the influx of human waste due to population growth. Initially, in the early 1900’s, microalgae was noted to increase wastewater treatment efficiency by aerating the water and consuming waste. By mid-century, wastewater grown microalgae was being investigated as...

The use of microalgae for combined wastewater treatment and biofuel production has shown to be a viable method for reducing algal biomass production costs. Despite this, little has been done to characterize the complex interactions that exist between microalgae, wastewater, and bacteria contained within wastewater. In this study, microalgae were gr...

The use of microalgae for combined wastewater treatment and biofuel production has shown promise as a viable method for reducing biomass production costs. Despite this, little has been done to characterize the complex interactions that exist between microalgae, wastewater, and bacteria within them. Understanding these components is vital for large‐...

This report outlines the final engineering project report for CO24U, a Low Cost, Remote Carbon Uptake System to monitor the carbon dioxide uptake in plants. Similar industry equipment currently cost upwards of $10,000, which makes such equipment inaccessible to students and researchers. The report details the design, construction, and testing of an...

Global carbon dioxide concentrations are rising and directly affect the growth of crops. Assessing the impacts this will have on our food production is vital to ensure adequate food supply for a growing population. Current carbon uptake sensing systems for crops measure the change in carbon dioxide concentration in the presence of plant material. W...

Global carbon dioxide concentrations are rising and directly affect the growth of crops. Assessing the impacts this will have on our food production is vital to ensure adequate food supply for a growing population. Current carbon uptake sensing systems for crops measure the change in carbon dioxide concentration in the presence of plant material. W...

The goal of this project was to design and test a microalgae bioreactor for treating undiluted urine in space. This involved setting up three, 1L flat-plate bioreactors utilizing a membrane gas exchange system and pump for mixing and suspension of cells. Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) was the algae of choice due to its wide tolerance of environm...

Review of a newly engineered super omniphobic substance based off of the molecular structure of the carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plant.